Whiteout snowstorm, high winds wreak havoc across several states

Published: Sunday, February 25, 2007

CHASE SQUIRESASSOCIATED PRESS

DENVER - A large, fast-moving snowstorm that closed sections of major highways on the Plains on Saturday was blamed for seven traffic deaths, while strong winds in Arkansas cut a five-mile-long swath of damage, destroying buildings and leaving several people injured.

The storms in the Plains knocked out power to more than 100,000 customers and dumped more than a foot of snow on the Upper Midwest. The seven deaths all occurred on slippery Wisconsin roads.

Meanwhile, some residents in the southeastern Arkansas city of Dumas were unaccounted for after winds, and possibly a series of tornadoes, blew through, and police were making a door-to-door search, authorities said. Emergency crews summoned ambulances from a neighboring county.

Associated Press

Jo Fuhrman of the Colorado State Patrol takes notes early Saturday at the scene where more than two dozen cars were involved in a pile-up on Interstate 70 in Aurora, Colo. Blowing snow had reduced visibility to almost zero when the accident happened, authorities said.

In Colorado, Interstate 70, a major cross-country route, was closed for about 200 miles in both directions from just east of Denver to Colby, Kan., because of blowing snow and slippery pavement, according to Colorado and Kansas highway officials.

Between Denver and the beginning of the highway closure, about 35 cars collided in a pileup in whiteout conditions Saturday morning on an icy section of I-70. No major injuries were reported.

The weather service reported wind gusts of 68 mph in the Denver area.

A number of other highways also were closed in Wyoming and Nebraska.

"Basically there's zero visibility at this time," Kansas Department of Transportation spokeswoman Barb Blue said just before noon. But many roads reopened later Saturday, including most of Interstate 80 in Nebraska, of which more than 270 miles had been closed.

Power was knocked out to 100,000 customers, primarily in Iowa, but also in Oklahoma and Nebraska.

In addition to the snow on the western Plains, the vast storm system spread rain and thunderstorms across parts of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri, with locally heavy snow across Iowa and southern Minnesota.

The weather service posted blizzard and winter storm warnings for parts of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, northern Illinois and Wisconsin.

As much as 15 inches of snow had fallen by Saturday afternoon at Galesville in southwestern Wisconsin. Up to 16 inches was possible by late today in Minnesota, which would be the state's biggest snowfall so far in an unusually dry winter, the weather service said.

Flights continued operating Saturday at Denver International Airport. The airport was on the western edge of the area of heavy snow and had only about an inch by late morning, spokesman Chuck Cannon said.